According to the Times, Lubombo Central Primary is
participating in a waste collection and recycling competition initiated by
dairy products manufacturing company, Parmalat Swaziland. Schools are required
to collect empty containers of Umcenge Milk, which are then collected by
Parmalat. The school which collects the most containers will be awarded with
E20,000 (US$1,520).

The Times reported that all
pupils at the school, ‘have been instructed to collect at least 10 empty
containers of Umcenge Milk per day’.

It said, ‘Pupils who fail to bring to school the containers are punished
by the head teacher.’

It quoted a source saying, ‘Last week, the head teacher visited all
classes and beat pupils who did not bring with them the containers. Some pupils
tried explaining that they couldn’t find the containers but the head teacher
continued punishing them.’

Swaziland has a long history of atrocities committed by teachers against
their pupils in the name of ‘discipline’. Even when it was permitted, there were rulesabout how corporal punishment
could be administered, these were largely ignored.

In August 2016, an eight-year-old schoolboy at
Siyendle Primary School, near Gege was thrashed
so hard in class he vomited. His teacher reportedly forced classmates to
hold the boy down while he whipped him with a stick. It happened after a group
of schoolboys had been inflating condoms when they were discovered by the
teacher.

In June 2016, the school
principal at the Herefords High School was reported to police after allegedly
giving a 20-year-old female student nine strokes of the cane on the buttocks.
The Swazi
Observer reported at the time, ‘She was given nine strokes on the buttocks by the
principal while the deputy helped her by holding the pupil’s hands as she was
made to lie down, said the source.’

In September 2015, the Times reporteda 17-year-old school pupil died
after allegedly being beaten at school. The pupil reportedly had a seizure.

In March 2015, a primary school teacher at the Florence Christian
Academy was charged with causing grievous bodily harm after
allegedly giving 200 strokes of the cane to a 12-year-old pupil on her buttocks
and all over her body.

In February 2015, the headteacher of Mayiwane High School Anderson Mkhonta reportedly admitted giving 15 strokes to a form 1 pupil for not wearing
a neck tie properly.

In April 2015, parents reportedly complainedto the Ndlalane
Primary School after a teacher beat pupils for not following his instruction
and shaving their hair.

In October 2014, 20 pupils were thrashedbefore
they sat an examination because they had been absent from school studying for
the exam the previous day.